‘Pay up’ is Housing Admin.’s new message

FHA has been the turnaround champ of residential real estate.

If you’re considering buying a house with a Federal Housing Administration mortgage and expect the seller to help out with your closing costs, here’s a heads-up: FHA plans to impose significant restrictions on the amount of money sellers can contribute at settlements in the near future. On top of that, FHA also will be raising its mortgage-insurance premiums during the coming weeks, increasing charges for new purchasers across the board. More

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ADVICE

‘Pay up’ is Housing Admin.’s new message

FHA has been the turnaround champ of residential real estate.

Posted:
Saturday, March 17, 2012 12:43 am

If you’re considering buying a house with a Federal Housing Administration mortgage and expect the seller to help out with your closing costs, here’s a heads-up: FHA plans to impose significant restrictions on the amount of money sellers can contribute at settlements in the near future. On top of that, FHA also will be raising its mortgage-insurance premiums during the coming weeks, increasing charges for new purchasers across the board.

You might ask: Why hit us with additional financial burdens right now, just as housing is showing modest signs of recovery in many areas, and the spring buying season is getting under way?

One big reason why: Over the past six years, FHA has been the turnaround champ of residential real estate, offering down payments as low as 3.5 percent despite the recession and housing bust, growing its market share from 3 percent to 25 percent-plus. The program is now financing 40 percent or more of all new home purchases in some metropolitan areas and is a crucial resource for first-time buyers and moderate-income families, especially minorities. With a maximum loan limit of $729,750 in high-cost areas, it is also a force in some of the country’s most expensive markets – California, Washington, D.C., New York and parts of New England.

But during the same span of rapid growth, FHA’s insurance-fund capital reserves have steadily deteriorated – far below congressionally mandated levels. Delinquencies have been increasing. According to the latest quarterly survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association, FHA delinquencies rose to 12.4 percent compared with a 4.1 percent average for prime (Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac) conventional fixed-rate mortgages and 6.6 percent for VA loans.

As a result, FHA is under the gun – from Congress and from within the Obama administration – to get its own house in order, cut insurance claims and rebuild its reserves. The upcoming squeezes on seller contributions and bumps in premiums are steps in this direction, but may not be the last.

The seller-contribution cutbacks could be painful, particularly in areas of the country where closing costs and home prices are relatively high. Here’s what’s involved: Traditionally, FHA has been uniquely generous in allowing home sellers – including builders marketing new construction – to sweeten the pot for purchasers by chipping in money to defray closing costs. FHA currently allows sellers to pay up to 6 percent of the price of the house toward their buyers’ settlement expenses. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, by comparison, cap contributions at 3 percent. VA’s ceiling is 4 percent.

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